1. Technical Field
The invention(s) relate to a systems and methods for communication between at least one central station and at least one remote mobile or stationary object by means of transmitting and receiving means.
This system and method is especially suitable when provided for exchange of information, data and even software programs, as well as for voice communication between cars, trucks, boats or other vehicles on one hand, and at least one central station on the other hand. An example of such a central station would be a center or service station of a manufacturer, a headstation for guiding or operating the vehicles or for providing help in case of emergency and accident. Further, the system and method is suitable and provided for communication with facilities and plants in remote areas which are operated, controlled, observed and/or monitored from one or more of those central stations.
2. Background Information
U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,061, the European counterpart of which is EP 0789498, discloses a vehicular emergency message system for a mobile vehicle for communication with a response center. A cellular transceiver, such as a cellular telephone, has a restricted and an unrestricted operating mode. The restricted operating mode is selectable by a user to affect communication links that are permitted during normal operation, whereas the unrestricted operation mode is activated prior to initiating a request for assistance in case of emergency, thereby allowing a more reliable connection over a cellular telephone network.
Further vehicular emergency message systems for mobile vehicles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,781,101, 5,687,215, 5,686,910 and 5,572,204, respectively. A user can request emergency or roadside assistance from a response center by activating a button in the vehicle. The global positioning system is used to continuously store the vehicle location. A cellular telephone network is used to contact a response center and transfer a data string via modem containing information to assist the response center in acting on the request. The various systems comprise additional means either for storing system information, for sending a termination tone to the vehicle upon satisfactory completion of the request, for initiating an automatic call-in to the response center if a predetermined time has elapsed since the last connection and for initiating a second call to a different telephone number if a first attempt to contact the response center has been unsuccessful.